County To Upgrade 911 Equipment

Monroe County’s 911 telephone system will be getting an upgrade that could allow people to text for help sometime in the future.

The new system is scheduled to be in place and operational by October, according to Chairman Jerry A. Oley.

There will be no change in rates to the public’s cost, a sur­charge on telephone bills, for the $140,000 project, said county Administrator Michael Bosanac.

The upgrade offers 911 dis­patchers additional features when dispatching emergency services, namely the most cur­rent software and texting op­tions with a new phone system.

The new system will support new technology for future texts to 911. However, texting to 911 will not occur right away after the system is installed, Mr. Bo­sanac said. “It will position the county to allow texting to 911,” he said. “ The system is expandable, but texts to 911 will not occur imme­diately.”

The 911 upgrade prepares the county’s current hardware, firm­ware and software and provides for “our best option for text as well as other next- generation technology enhancements as they become available,” said Al Frank, director of Central Dis­patch.

The current system is from a private firm called Intrado, which is marketed through AT& T. It is the same manufac­turer and supplier for the new system, Mr. Bosanac said.

In approving the upgrade last week, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners acted on one of its goals for 2014.

“Now was the time to act on this important public safety matter,” Mr. Oley said in a state­ment. The board was “commit­ted to ensuring reliable access to emergency services by citizens when in need of help.”

Mr. Bosanac said the timing to replace the equipment was right.

“ With the critical nature of the 911 phone system, we cannot wait for problems to occur and then think about replacement,” Mr. Bosanac said. “ The board of commissioners and the 911 board are looking ahead to en­sure the reliability of the emer­gency communications system. It is the expected life expectancy for these types of technology and application.”

The Federal Communications Commission mandated wireless providers and certain other text messaging providers to send an automatic “ bounce- back” mes­sage to any consumer who tries to send a text to 911 where Text-2-911 is not available.

“ That is what our public pres­ently receives in Monroe County and essentially what the pub­lic receives to date throughout Michigan should one attempt to text to 911,” Mr. Frank said.

In May, Saginaw, Oakland and Lapeer counties became the first counties to request to en­ter into the first phase of Text-2-911. These counties are break­ing ground for other Michigan counties to follow. The prototype is a short-term solution, he said.

“Full next- generation 911 de­ployment is still in development and will likely be so for several years going into the future,” he said.

The interim solution being tested was developed as a way to allow 911 to be activated via Short Message Service text mes­saging prior to full 911 develop­ment.

The board earlier asked for a plan to fund the new phone sys­tem.

“ It is a unique funding ar­rangement with the timing to advance the funds now and take advantage of the vendor’s dis­count,” Mr. Bosanac said. “ We need the new system, so (there’s) no sense in not securing the $40,000 discount.”

He added that the technol­ogy investment comes after last year’s upgrade of a public safety radio communication system with new radio consoles in Cen­tral Dispatch. That project cost $560,000.